Ottawa father celebrates birthday rescuing young man from smoke-filled house

Matt Godin to the rescue Ottawa man wakes resident inside burning home, and helps firefighters clear the hydrant, CTV’s Joanne Schnurr reports.

An Ottawa father celebrated his birthday in the most unusual fashion yesterday. Matt Godin ran into a smoke filled house and woke up the young occupant sleeping inside. And if that wasn't enough, he then jumped in to help firefighters dig out the fire hydrant, buried under snow.Godin credits his mom for the fact that he was in the right place at the right time. She had called him yesterday morning to come pick up his birthday cake. That's when he saw smoke and took off down the street in his truck to check it out.

It was 9:30 in the morning when Matt Godin pulled up outside this house on Mimosa Avenue, around the corner from where he lives.

“I noticed the first unit,” recalls Godin, “There are flames coming out of garage and smoke billowing out.”

Godin, who works shift work at OC Transpo on fleet maintenance, called 9-1-1 then banged on the door and the windows.  No one responded.

Godin had a feeling though that someone was in the house.  He had seen a car in the driveway, cleared of snow with recent tire tracks.  This time, he decided to go inside.

“I was ready to break the door down,” he says, “but tried the door handle; it was unlocked. I went in yelling to see if there was anyone there.  I cleared the bottom floor then went upstairs.  In the second bedroom, there was an occupant asleep.  I woke him up, told him there was a fire and we have to get out right now.

Godin asked him whether there was anyone else in the house.  He responded that his sister may be there so Godin did a thorough sweep of the second floor, searching under beds and in the bathroom.  When he was assured no one else was there, he and the occupant went outside. That's when firefighters arrived on the scene.  But Godin's job wasn't done yet.

“Our firefighters noticed he was still in the area,” says Danielle Cardinal with Ottawa Fire Services, “He was adrenaline infused and opted to take a shovel and helped clear the hydrant at that fire. I think it's great. I know he's been adamant that he doesn’t want to be called a hero. His main message is that he hopes someone would do the same for me if he were in that situation,” says Cardinal, “So just ensuring that if you do come on an emergency, that you're first making that 911 call that was the pivotal part in all this, making sure emergency responders are on the way so you're not putting yourself in harm's way.”

“When they arrived, they asked if I wanted to help,” says Godin, “and threw me a shovel and with all the adrenaline, I blew through shoveling that fire hydrant in about 20 seconds.”

“That’s very Matt, I’m really proud of him,” says his wife Amy Gordon.

That evening, for their birthday tradition of wearing funny hats, the couple’s 4-year-old son Theo decided which one dad would wear.

“We went to pick them out,” says Gordon, “and Theo said daddy needs the fire hat because he made a rescue yesterday. It's pretty cute.”

“I think it's incredible that people are willing to do that,” says Martin Moore, who lives next door to where the fire occurred, “He’s a Good Samaritan.”

Godin shrugs off the "hero" label and says he just wants to encourage people to do their part including clearing fire hydrants.  As for his birthday, it will be a memorable one.

“It was my 41^st,” he says, “so, yeah, I won't forget this one. Probably for a while.”

The family members of the young lad that Godin saved came to his house last evening to thank him.  He says it was an emotional moment for him and certainly a birthday he will never forget.